Improv Everywhere!

Agent Christy and I went to the Getty today for our first GuerilLA improv mission. In this one, over 200 agents formed a single file line and toured the grounds. At the end we formed a giant spiral and then dispersed. Video as soon as we get it.

after POINT BREAK LIVE.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

My hero, at 100

If turning 100 doesn't win you the right to celebrate with busty waitresses in tight clothes, Iowa resident John Persinger can't imagine what does.

The centenarian rang in his entry into the triple digits at Hooters on Wednesday, according to a report by The Des Moines Register. His late wife Vi wouldn't have objected, since she was a regular with him at Hooters, the infamous chain known for the cleavage it serves up with beer and buffalo wings.

A surprise birthday party for Dawn Wells, the actress who played Mary Ann on 'Gilligan's Island,' ended with a nearly three-hour tour of the Teton County sheriff's office and jail when the 69-year-old was caught with marijuana in her vehicle while driving home."

Friday, February 29, 2008

From the NYTimes: After seeing 27-year-old Amanda Baggs, featured in this month’s Wired magazine, you may rethink your views of the so-called “normal” world. Ms. Baggs, who lives in Burlington, Vt., is autistic and doesn’t speak. But she has become an Internet sensation as a result of an unusual video she created called “In My Language.'’

For the first three minutes of the video, she rocks, flaps her hands, waves a piece of paper, buries her face in a book and runs her fingers repeatedly across a computer keyboard, all while humming a haunting two-note tune.

Then, the words “A Translation” appear on the screen.

Although Ms. Baggs doesn’t speak, she types 120 words a minute. Using a synthesized voice generated by a software application, Ms. Baggs types out what is going on inside her head. The movement, the noise, the repetitive behaviors are all part of Ms. Baggs’ own “native” language, she says via her computerized voice. It’s a language that allows her to have a “constant conversation” with her surroundings.

My language is not about designing words or even visual symbols for people to interpret. It is about being in a constant conversation with every aspect of my environment, reacting physically to all parts of my surroundings.

Far from being purposeless, the way that I move is an ongoing response to what is around me….The way I naturally think and respond to things looks and feels so different from standard concepts or even visualization that some people do not consider it thought at all. But it is a way of thinking in its own right.

More, in a follow up on CNN:

Living with autism�in a world made for others - CNN.com: "Thirty or 40 years ago, life would have been different and much harder for Amanda, says Morton Ann Gernsbacher, a cognitive psychologist who specializes in autism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 'The Internet is providing for individuals with autism, what sign language did for the deaf,' she says. 'It allows them to interact with the world and other like-minded individuals on their own terms.' (Ask Amanda your questions about autism. )

These days, Amanda Baggs lives on her own terms. With the help of an agency, she moved from California to Vermont about a year and a half ago to be closer to a friend.

And what does Amanda think is the hardest thing about living with autism? 'Having to navigate a world that is, on all levels, is built for the abilities and deficits of people who are not built remotely like me.'"

All out of sorts this past week and feeling lost to the people in my life. This is a good reminder that it is what it is. And that's a good thing.

This is from the delightful Orange, who took it from another friend of hers...smiling over my shoulder: we die to each other daily: "we die to each other dailyjust saw this quote on satsi's blog, and it resonates all deep n shit right now. i'm in the midst of a bit of a conversation with myself about closeness, love, and intimacy. these words are all manner of aching terror and crystalline beauty.

We die to each other daily.What we know of other peopleIs only our memory of the momentsDuring which we knew them. And they have changed since then.To pretend that they and we are the sameIs a useful and convenient social conventionWhich must sometimes broken. We must also rememberThat at every meeting we are meeting a stranger.

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolor disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life?

Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against lonliness and methamphetamine addiction in a quiet American suburb.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Falling slowly: HOPE

During the Oscars I was truly moved by seeing host Jon Stewert bring Markéta Irglová back out after she had been ushered off before giving her acceptance speech. Markéta and Glen Hansard won the Oscar for Original Song for "Falling Slowly" from Once, the one and only category that the film was nominated in, and although Glen gave his speech, Markéta was ushered off stage before she could even begin to say anything. Thankfully Stewart brought her back after the commercial break and she delivered her unforgettable speech. Not only did the song (and film) certainly deserve the award, but it was a great relief to see it win, especially with Enchanted nominated three times in the same category. Her speech that she did end up giving was truly incredible and it is with great pleasure that I share it with all of you below.

Markéta Irglová at the OscarsHere is what Markéta Irglová said:

"Hi everyone. I just want to thank you so much. This is such a big deal, not only for us, but for all other independent musicians and artists that spend most of their time struggling, and this, the fact that we're standing here tonight, the fact that we're able to hold this, it's just to prove no matter how far out your dreams are, it's possible. And, you know, fair play to those who dare to dream and don't give up. And this song was written from a perspective of hope, and hope at the end of the day connects us all, no matter how different we are. And so thank you so much, who helped us along the way. Thank you."

Although she's supposedly a very shy person, Markéta did a great job and gave a very powerful speech. And to compliment this, her counterpart in "Falling Slowly", Glen Hansard, also gave a great acceptance speech before her. I'll include that below just as to give both of them the extra appreciation they deserve.

"Thanks! This is amazing. What are we doing here? This is mad. We made this film two years ago. We shot on two Handicams. It took us three weeks to make. We made it for a hundred grand. We never thought we would come into a room like this and be in front of you people. It's been an amazing thing. Thanks for taking this film seriously, all of you. It means a lot to us. Thanks to the Academy, thanks to all the people who've helped us, they know who they are, we don't need to say them. This is amazing. Make art. Make art. Thanks."

Some of the city’s best shopping is also on its northern rim, where the 10-block Montana Avenue district is known for upscale clothes, home décor, crafts, jewelry and art. At Every Picture Tells A Story (No. 1311-C) a lithograph of the cover of “Charlotte’s Web” signed by the illustrator, Garth Williams, hangs on a wall, and in the gallery (the store is also a children’s bookstore) original works by Maurice Sendak, Dr. Seuss and others are $150 to $150,000.

Next door, Rooms & Gardens (No. 1311-A) sells furniture, antiques and accessories like pillows fashioned from an antique Indian sari. The actress Mary Steenburgen, one of the store’s three owners, praised the walkability of the area — not a common commodity in Southern California — when I asked her about the location of her store.

“The thing I love about Montana is that you feel as if you are in a pedestrian city,” she said. “It’s fun to look out the window and see people walking by with their dogs, instead of just cars streaming by.”

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

You're beautiful, you've always wondered

It's a very strange thing to go through such a sudden physical transformation as with Lasik. I feel very handsome, and it's a wondrous and difficult idea to comprehend. Am I blind to what I was before? Is this merely confidence? I've no idea.

It's also a full moon and a lunar eclipse. So that's fucking with my emotions, too.

I really hope it's not a problem to be shedding a tear or two while recovering from Lasik.

"and now you know, you're beautiful, you always wonderednow you know everything's alrightand now you know, you're beautiful, you've always wonderedand now you know together we're alright"

Monday, February 18, 2008

Exploding dog - since when did you have lazer eyes?

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Valentine's Day mix at WeHeartHandclaps

To make-up for the cheese-filled goodness that was the City of Roses mix, here's a brand new Valentine's Day mix. It's all over the map from old faves like Dylan, Springsteen, Roxy Music and the Everly Brothers to new indie acts like Feist, Cat Power, the Spree and the National rocking a Psychedelic Furs cover.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Lucha

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

This was the first ever mix CD I ever made – 10 years ago this Thursday. iven to all of my female friends in Portland, along with a CD insert of a dozen pictures of roses/rose graphics from around the Rose City.

NOTE: this was in the days before... mp3s, file-sharing and music blogs, when you actually had to go to the record store and search through crates to find the cool obscure indie-cred stuff. Which, I obviously didn’t do.

And I know the mix is cheesy as fuck, but I had no experience with mix CDs and was counting on the novelty to carry it through. In retrospect, I can’t imagine ever giving a mix cd where 7 of the 16 songs have the word love in the title or subtitle (se a vida e (I love you)). And you wouldn’t catch me putting a Dave Matthews Band on a mix these days except under duress (like say, water torture.)

But I still like the mix. And it was a hugely original gift at the time. I think I actually had to explain to one friend what a mix CD entailed (namely, that it didn’t need a special machine to play.)

After 10 years, I’m still proud of the mix, and the packaging (also done before the digital revolution turned the photo world upside down).

So, take a listen. And Happy Valentine’s Day from the City of Roses, 10 years later.m